Matt, Clint, and God Knows What Else
by SamMaldonado
Summary: An odd coincidence caused Matt Murdock and Clint Barton aka Daredevil and Hawkeye to end up in the same dumpster in Hell's Kitchen. Now the two unlikely friends call on each other when in need or sometimes just bored. It's a series of one-shots depicting the beginning of some of their first conversations and meetings.
1. The Luck of a Dumpster

Matt liked to work alone. He liked being the only one to handle things. But he also liked helping Clint. Clint liked pushing people away. Not really liked as much as needed. He did like the way Matt didn't like to be mad at him. Most days he seemed like the only person in the world who wasn't mad at him.

Once, Matt was fighting what he had originally thought were low-level thugs. There were many of them and they were all trained martial artists. Matt kinda won and well actually he kinda lost and somehow ended up in a dumpster. His senses were a little fuzzy so he wasn't very aware of his surroundings. That same night Clint somehow ended up in Hell's Kitchen, on a roof, in hand-to-hand combat with some ninja. His bow was who knows where. The fight… well it looked bad. He was out of tricks and out of luck. He was tired and slow. The ninja kicked him in the chest and then he was falling. Apparently his luck wasn't completely out because he landed in a dumpster.

"Who's there?" Matt demanded, having heard and felt Clint hit the trash. Clint had closed his eyes, partially so that he wouldn't see himself hit the pavement and die and partially because he was so tired. Also, at some point while fighting the ninja both hearing aides had fallen out. Basically, he had no idea where the hell he was. Matt grabbed him by the color of his tee shirt and shoved him against the cool metal of the dumpster.

"Wha-"

"Who are you?" Matt asked again.

"What? I'm deaf and it's too dark to read lips. Do you know ASL?"

"What? No I don't know ASL, I'm blind."

"What did you say?" The confusing conversation didn't last much longer because very quickly Matt passed out from his injuries and Clint passed out from exhaustion.

The sun was just starting to come up when Matt awoke with a start. It took him a minute to realise where he was, why, and who this young boy was. His senses were still not the best because he had lost a very large amount of blood. He tried to pull himself out of the dumpster with no avail. Then he remembered the boy.

Matt shook Clint's shoulder and just narrowly dodged his fist when he swung at him. Clint sat up groggily and blinked a few times, trying to remember what the hell he was doing.

"Hey, we need to get out of here," Matt said. Clint could read lips again so he nodded.

"Yeah. You don't look so good."

"That's why I woke you. Come on, get up."

Matt wrapped his arm around Clint's shoulder and allowed himself to be pulled up. Clint was having trouble standing between the uneven and constantly shifting trash under his feet and the hundreds of pounds of straight up muscle putting pretty much all of his weight on him. Clint didn't really know what to do so he kinda just pushed Matt over the edge of the dumpster. Matt obviously didn't land it.

"Hey, stay there for a minute. I need to go find my hearing aides or Tony'll kill me for losing another pair and my bow and quiver," Clint told Matt.

"I'm not going anywhere."

It took Clint a minute get up to the roof and then another minute to find them. By the time he returned, Matt had passed out again. He really lost a lot of blood, and some wounds were still trickling. Clint pulled him up yet again managed to get him in consciousness.

"Where do you live?" Clint asked. It took a moment for Matt to be able to fully reply. Luckily, his apartment was close by. That was where Clint's luck completely ran out. The other and very heavy man was completely useless. Clint was literally dragging him. Then the elevator was out of service so they had to take the stairs. It took the better part of an hour to go less than a block. Then Matt didn't have a key and the door was locked to Clint had to hope no neighbor came out of their apartment to see their blind neighbor passed out and bleeding on the floor outside the door to his apartment while he broke in through the roof.

It was quite a process get Matt into the apartment and then on the couch and then get his suit off so that Clint could patch him up. It probably didn't help that Clint was still so very tired and couldn't see any coffee pot in the kitchen. He needed caffeine and was starting to feel the toll it took on him without any.

Matt's body was covered with scars. Clint had never seen anyone who could rival him there. He saw a first aid kit next to one of the chairs and pulled it over to him. First thing's first, the stitches. There was a stab wound on his thigh. Clint had gotten pretty good at stitching himself up, but on someone else it was harder. At one point Clint wondered why he was stitching up some blind dude instead of taking him to the hospital. Nonetheless, he proceeded.

Second, glue the cuts. He didn't need to dig through the kit, glue was right on top next to the surgical needle. There were a few cuts to glue. Last, butterfly band-aids. He usually taped himself up but he didn't think this guy would want to look like a mummy.

It wasn't until he was done that he realized he had forgotten to clean the large stab wound. Matt groaned in his sleep and Clint decided to hurry with the cleaning so he wouldn't have to do it while he was awake. He grabbed a bottle of alcohol from his kitchen. It wasn't hard to find one. He dumped a good portion onto Matt's thigh. He woke up yelling. Clint startled but it ended as quickly as it started.

Matt stared intently at his thigh, his teeth gritted to stifle any sound. He breathed sharply and quickly as the pain slowly subsided. Finally he fully realized that the boy was sitting back on feet on the ground next to him.

"I did the best I could. Who are you?" Clint asked.

"Matt. Matt Murdock."

"Hm. Never heard of you. How did a blind guy become a vigilante?"

"I have other ways to see. How did a deaf guy become an Avenger?"

"How do you know I'm an Avenger?"

It was the start of a wonderful friendship.


	2. Unfortunately Foggy

"Clint?"

"Yeah."

"What are you doing here?"

"Well I was in the area and have a day and night off so I was wondering what you are… doing… tonight."

"Clint that makes it sound like you want to have sex with me," Matt laughed.

"What? No! I just… saw that you had company and…"

"Okay now it really sounds like-"

"I'm not! I don't. You know what I mean." Matt laughed again. "Matt!"

" _Who_ are you talking to?" Matt's company yelled from the kitchen.

"He's- he's just a friend!"

"Uh-huh."

"Clint!" Matt whispered forcefully. "Come back at 9:30 tonight." Clint gave him thumbs up and left. Matt smiled to himself because of Clint's awkwardness but was quickly pulled back into reality by Foggy- his company.

"Matt, if he's gone can we finish up here?"

"Yeah, I'm coming." He found Foggy glaring at him, one eyebrow raised accusingly. "What?"

"So you're clearly not 'just friends' and you're not into men, so which vigilante is Clint?"

"What?"

"You heard me. He just happens to be in the area so he isn't from around here. Is he an Avenger? Wait, it was Clint, right? Wow, you're now fighting crime with Clint Barton, Avenger's Hawkeye. Right? You let an Avenger find out your secret identity?" Foggy was clearly not happy.

"I didn't let him! We happened to be fighting different people and just were nearby. I got pretty injured and he got me here somehow and helped me out a bit. I don't even remember most of what happened! The morning after we had questions, of course, and he knew what I look like

and where I live so what's the harm in telling him the rest?"

"What's the harm. Ha." His laugh held no humor. "You do know that _he's an Avenger_ , right?"

"Yes and I trust him."

"You've barely met him! You know what, I don't care. This is why I had to get out. Out of Nelson and Murdock, out of this ridiculous vigilante crap, and out of your life! Just sign the document so I can go." Matt looked heartbroken.

"Foggy…"

"Do it." Matt signed, officially giving up the last of the law firm, severing his last tie to Foggy. Foggy gathered together all of the papers and put them in his briefcase.

"I'm sorry," Matt said as he left.

"Yeah." Matt wasn't whether or not he was being sarcastic.

Matt couldn't wait for 9:30 to come around. He needed a distraction and something told him this twenty-something year old would do very well at distracting. The time finally rolled around and Clint showed up at his door, an entire coffee pot in his hand.

"Y' know, 9:30 is pretty early for vigilante stuff, old man. When's your bedtime? 10:30?"

"I'm not old. I'm 30."

"Yeah and I'm 18."

"Aren't you?"

"No! I'm 28."

"Really? I guess I have to stop thinking of you as the young boy Avenger."

"Yeah I apparently look younger than I am."

"I guess I'll take your word for it."

"Oh." There was a second of awkward silence.

"So are you coming in?" Matt finally asked.

"Yeah." As they came into the apartment, Matt realized that 28 made sense. The Avengers wouldn't let in a kid. And he was at least 6' 3" and definitely over 200 pounds.

"So your company earlier today. Ex-business partner, right?" Clint wondered.

"Yeah. He wasn't too happy. Never really is with me anymore. He found out about Daredevil and… haven't really been friends since."

"I feel ya. Once I had a brother. Then I almost killed him and stole a lot of his money. So I didn't see him for a long time."

"I feel like these are two very different scenarios."

The rest of the night was interesting to say the least. At first Matt didn't want to admit it, but he did like having a partner out in the field.


	3. Pizza and A Lawsuit

"Matt."

"Clint? Is that you?"

"Listen, I need a lawyer. And quickly. How fast can you get to… uh… I think I'm in Brooklyn."

"What have you done?"

"I got mixed up in some tough business and I need a lawyer. I can pay you double your usual rate."

"On my way."

"That was, by far, the weirdest case I've ever done. Tracksuit mafia? Who in their right mind would join a tracksuit mafia?" Matt laughed at the oddness of it.

"I know, right. I'm surprised you won the case. Well, actually I guess I'm not. Who in their right mind would hire a member of the tracksuit mafia to be their lawyer? Those guys get dumber every time I see them. Anyway, what are you doing for the rest of the day?"

"I was going to try to get more clients before I have to sell my apartment. Foggy still sends me cases he doesn't do but it's less and less every day."

"Sounds boring. How about instead we go to my place? The other Hawkeye is out of town and without her I don't really have any self control and tend to do things that tend to make me need to call a lawyer so maybe you could, you know, stop me from dying."

"I can't, I really need to find more people."

"I'll help you." Matt still seemed uncertain. "I actually have a bunch of clients in mind already. I own an apartment building with a lot of people who need a lot of legal help."

"Oh alright."

"So this brother of yours…"

"Barney?"

"Barney. Is he still mad at you?"

"Nah. He got what he wanted. He took off with my neighbor and her two kids, who was one of my only friends, and pretty much all of my money."

"That's… not good."

"Nope. And the other Hawkeye took off and stole my dog. Who knows where she is. And this was right after running away to the other side of the country leaving me to deal with the tracksuit mafia which was when I got stabbed in the ears and lost 80% of my hearing for good."

"Equally not good."

"Nope. And before that my wife divorced me."

"Also not good."

"Nope. What about you?"

"I lost my friends and law firm because of being Daredevil. Foggy made me choose. I regret my decision every day."

"What about every night?"

"I know I could never give up helping people every night. It was just a high price to pay."

"Well this has gotten depressing. Have you ever met Captain America?"

They had a somewhat odd conversation and hung out for many hours. Much pizza was ordered. By the end of the night, Matt had found a new friend, and Clint might have, too.


	4. A 24 Hour Bug and Much More Pizza

"Hey so Foggy got my phone number somehow and called to tell me to come over to your apartment because your really sick but won't admit it but Foggy refuses to try to help you because your so stubborn and I'm the only only other person you talk to besides someone named Karen so I'm headed over now because I haven't seen a tracksuit in a few days so I don't have anything to do also I'm bringing my dog so see you soon."

"Wait, Clint!" But he had already hung up. "Dang it."

Clint assumed Foggy had looked at his contact in Matt's phone. This could be a very bad thing. If he released it Clint would need to figure out how to put a new number on a wall phone, something he wasn't sure was possible. Regardless, a fellow crime fighting person was in need and Clint felt oddly obliged to help him. He'd already ordered a pizza because both he and Lucky aka Pizza Dog agreed that pizza helps everything. He and Lucky hopped into his red and now banged up car. They stopped for the pizza and then broke into Matt's apartment through the roof, a trick he learned when they first met.

"Clint?" Matt called, followed by a series of coughs.

"Yeah, it's me and Lucky. We brought pizza."

"Not hungry."

"Good, it wasn't for you." Clint found Matt laying on his couch, a bottle of beer on the floor next to him.

"You don't need to be here," Matt said. Clint noticed how pale he was, and how droplets of sweat dotted his face.

"Like I said, I had a day off." Lucky bounded down the steps that led from the roof to the apartment and started licking Matt. Matt jumped, startled by the sudden tongue on his face. "Lucky, stop!"

"Clint, really. I- I'm fine," Matt told him, tripping over the coffee table. "It's just a little cold or fever or something." He coughed again and walked into a chair. Clint had reached him by then and grabbed his upper arm.

"Yeah, sure. Because the futzing common cold does this." Matt jerked out of his grasp and walked back to the couch. He sat on the edge of it and started running his hands over the table. It took Clint a second to realize what he was doing. "What are you trying to find?"

"I put a box tissues right here, I can tell." Clint picked up the box, which was not on the table but several feet away. He tossed it to Matt, who didn't even attempt to catch it so he got hit in the face.

"Your senses are clearly not in good shape," Clint said.

"They're fine."

"Really? Because you're talking to someone at least 10 feet to my left." Matt blew his nose and through the tissue towards the trash can in the kitchen but missed.

"It's just a little off, but really, I'm fine." Matt got back up and walked into the kitchen, narrowly missing the counter with his hip. He reached into the cupboard for a glass that wasn't there. Overcome by a sudden wave of nausea, he leaned his forearms and head on the counter.

"Fine my ass," Clint said with a mouthful of pizza. Matt took the few steps to the sink but undershot it. He threw up all over the counter. "Okay, okay, buddy. Come on." Clint put his hand on Matt's back.

"I'm-"

"If you say that you're fine I'm going to slap you." Clint put a little pressure on his back to get him to start walking but he walked straight into the corner of the counter. His senses must be very off. Clint wrapped his arm around Matt's waist and half guided half carried him to the couch. Matt curled up on the couch. Clint was struck by how young he was, too. He'd always seen him as an older vigilante, but in reality he was two years older than Clint, struggling to stay afloat with no friends to help him, kind of like himself but with less money and fame.

Matt fell asleep quickly, so Clint cleaned up the little mess on the counter, then sat back, ate pizza, and pet Lucky. He didn't wake up for the rest of the day, all through the night, and well into the next morning. When he finally did, he was mortified.

"You're still here?"

"Yeah, Matty. I had to make sure you didn't die in your sleep."

"You should leave now," he said, clearly embarrassed by being taken care of by this younger boy he barely even knew.

"Can't, just ordered pizza. Lucky finished the one from yesterday while I slept."

"Where did you sleep?"

"..."

"Don't tell me you slept in my bed."

"Well it's not like you were!"

"Clint please go."

"Matt, come on! You can't just kick me out!"

"Please leave." Matt looked totally defeated, tired, and still a bit pale. Clint's chest panged with sympathy. He'd been in this position; beaten, sick, tired, embarrassed, and alone. Except Matt wasn't alone.

"Matt," Clint said again, but this time softer and kinder. "You're still sick. Let's just chill here, eat some pizza, and sometime I'll have my brother call you saying to come to my apartment because of how stubborn I am." The door bell sounded and both Clint and Lucky jumped up excitedly. When he opened the door, Matt heard the delivery girl say 'Hey, are you Hawkeye?' Clint replied 'No, I'm actually the Falcon.' Matt rolled his eyes.

Clint returned and plopped the pizza on the the coffee table.

"Pepperoni or sausage?" Clint asked.

"Pepperoni." Clint put a plate in his lap. Before it even touched him, Matt could smell it was sausage. "Hey, this is not pepperoni."

"It was a test. Seeing how your senses are working. That's Lucky's piece. Just put it on you ground. He won't make a mess, he promises." Matt rolled his eyes for a second time but set down the plate. He received his slice and then all three were eating.

Matt was actually a little happy to have company and realized Clint wouldn't be too bad to keep around. Part of Clint was telling him to leave, to never be with Matt again, that they were already too close, but the rest liked Matt, liked having a friend that was forever kind and never really angry. Lucky liked Matt because he gave him pizza. They hung out there throughout the morning and afternoon, but had to leave so Matt could get back to work once he finally felt up to it.


	5. A Friend?

"Thanks for coming over. The tracksuit mafia is really pushing me to the max. They won't stop coming here and I can't handle them all."

"Sure thing. I owe you. Why isn't the other Hawkeye around this time? Shouldn't she be the one helping out?" Clint had called Matt to his apartment building. Clint was alone and in desperate need of some help fighting or at least patching himself up.

"She's off being a superhero. She's practically an Avenger so she does all of these missions. I have missions too but we rarely have one together. Are you complaining?"

"Not at all. What do you do while you wait for them to show up?"

"Whatever. I drink some coffee, pet Lucky, watch TV." Clint shrugged and looked around, suddenly self conscious about his apartment and his lack of fun things to do.

"I don't really watch TV," Matt told him.

"Oh yeah, of course." Clint turned red. Luckily, he was saved from further embarrassing himself by his phone ringing.

 _Hey Clint._

"Kate?"

 _Who else would be calling you?_

"I don't know. Tony. Maybe Steve. As in Captain America. Because he calls me."

 _Sure. Anyway, I'm coming back a day early. We finished up really quickly._

"Wait what? You're coming here today?"

 _Yeah. I'll get there in like 7 minutes or something._

"I have a friend over though."

 _Friend? I didn't think you knew what those were. Glad I'll get to meet them. Wait… Are you dating them? I don't want to walk in on you making out or having-"_

"No! We're friends. And-"

 _Gotta go. Bye! Oh! And Nat is stopping by._

Before Clint could respond she hung up. He groaned and hung the phone back on the wall.

"Who's Nat?" Matt asked.

"Black Widow. We probably shouldn't tell her that you're Daredevil. She's, like, a spy, though, so she might already know."

"Don't let her know but she may already know. Noted." Matt smiled and chuckled.

7 minutes later, a SHIELD helicopter hovered over the street and a ladder unfolded itself as gravity pulled it down. Kate and Nat expertely climbed down it. Kate let herself and Nat into the building, up the stairs, and into Clint's apartment. She was surprised to see that not only did Clint actually have a friend, but said friend was also blind.

"I thought you were lying about having a friend." Matt laughed and Clint fumed.

"Hi, I'm Matt," he said.

"You're the first guy I've ever walked in on Clint being on the couch with," Nat said, turning Clint an even brighter shade of red.

"Why does everyone think I'm futzing sleeping with him?"

"I never said you were sleeping with him." Clint glared fiercely at her, and Kate was using all of her self control not to break out laughing. She really liked when Nat came over.

"Natasha, I think it's time for you to leave," Clint told her.

"Not until I get to meet your friend."

"Matt," Matt offered, again.

"Yes. Matt." A flirtatious smile crept onto her face.

"Natasha, no need to flirt. He isn't some public enemy for you to gather intel on," Clint said.

"You never know."

"I can't deal with you right now." Clint dumped some coffee grounds into the machine and started it up.

"What number is that, Clint?" Kate asked.

"I don't know," he replied.

"4th since I got here a few hours agos," Matt supplied.

"Shut _up_ Matt."

They all got settled in, Natasha in a chair, Clint and Matt on the couch, and Kate on the counter. They talked for about 15 minutes before Clint realized he made coffee. He looked around for a mug but didn't find one so he poured some into a cereal bowl.

"Hey Clint. While you're up, can you get me one of those rice krispies you mentioned earlier?" Matt asked.

"Yeah sure." Clint was so relaxed he forgot that he was in a room with other people and not out in the field with Matt fighting baddies so he tossed him the packaged treat. Matt had to let it hit him the face to keep his cover.

"Clint what the heck?" Kate yelled.

"Why did you just throw something at a blind guy?" Natasha was equally shocked.

"I didn't mean to!" Clint said defensively.

"Clint, _you have perfect aim!_ " Kate said incredulously.

"Okay I meant to, but-"

"Holy- Clint, you ass."

"Kate, I just kinda forgot and…" He was at a loss of words. He looked to Matt who was sitting back, amused.

"It's fine," he said. "Worse things have happened."

Nat stuck around for a while longer. While she was there, the conversation went on, one of the girls mentioning the little incident every once in a while just to make Clint angry. Eventually, the tracksuits showed up with a few new companions so Hawkeye, Hawkeye, and Black Widow went out to stop them, leaving Daredevil inside pretending to not be Daredevil. Nat left immediately and Kate followed soon after, both to return to their respective homes. Matt stayed to help Clint patch himself up.


	6. Fun Facts and Flips

"I didn't know you did parkour!" Matt exclaimed. He wasn't used to anyone keeping up with him as he jumped and flipped through the rooftops of Hell's Kitchen, but Clint seamlessly followed him during a race. The race idea was Clint's. He knew Matt traveled via rooftop as Daredevil and wanted to see how. Because of his acrobatic training, he flipped through the air with ease, but was curious as to how Matt did it. He purposefully fell behind at the beginning of the race to watch the vigilante and then pulled ahead at the very end by using one of his special arrows, the grappling hook arrow, to pull himself directly up the side of a building while Matt took the long way.

"I learned most of my tricks when I was a carnie. I had to adapt them a little for running and jumping but, yeah, I do parkour. How did you learn?" Clint asked. Matt shrugged.

"Just picked it up along the way." There was a moment of silence for them both to catch their breath. "You know, using an arrow is cheating. I never used my billy clubs' grappling system."

"It's not cheating. It's just using your resources. Very important during a fight."

"Well in that case, I want a redo." Matt looked at Clint in a way like he was daring him to object.

"Okay," Clint agreed. "To the church. Ready set go."

Clint took off with Matt right on his tail. The church was very difficult to get to, which Clint knew when he chose it. There were larger gaps between buildings and larger height differences. Matt seemed to do more flips than necessary, and only used his billy clubs when there was no other option. Clint relied more on his speed, but wasn't afraid to throw in a few flips and jumps here and there, but only when needed. He took the shortest route no matter the obstacles and used his zipline and grappling hook arrows more often than not when faced with a steep incline. Nonetheless, they stayed neck and neck.

Clint inched farther and farther ahead of Matt as they neared the church. Clint used a zipline arrow to glide to the roof and Matt threw one of his clubs around a spire while in grappling mode and then the cord retracted back into the club in his hand, pulling him to the roof as well. Clint had his hands in his knees and was taking deep breaths. The obstacle course that was the rooftops took a lot more physical exertion than he had originally expected. Matt put his hands on his head.

"If you do this it opens up your chest and makes it easier to breathe," Matt told Clint. Clint waved his away but stood up.

"You're just jealous because I beat you," he replied.

"Yeah," Matt said with a slight laugh. "You did. I have to say, I am impressed. Though why did you choose a church as the finish? It has to be sacrilege or something."

"What? Going to church?" Clint's eyebrows knit in confusion. Matt snorted.

"No. Using it as a finish line for a race and climbing to it's roof."

"So what?"

"I don't want Father Lantom to have another reason to be disappointed in me," Matt said.

"Father Lantom?"

"He's the priest here. This is the church I go to."

"You're Christian?"

"Catholic, actually," Matt corrected.

"Hm."

"Is that a problem?"

"Nah. We can go to that roof over there."

"Alright."

When the two got to the other roof, they realized that they really didn't know much about each other. Their conversation dragged on through the night as they told each other random things about themselves and when Clint finally returned to his apartment, he felt closer to Matt than ever, and Matt felt the same way.

Sorry for another short one and the long wait! I've had a really busy work schedule and haven't gotten to write as much as I want to. I have been thinking about abandoning this story because of my schedule and the lack of feedback. I have another chapter planned but I don't know if I'll write it out unless someone wants otherwise. Thank you to all of the people who read this! It's been fun writing.


	7. We Don't Ship It

_**Sorry for all of the short chapters, but here's a longer one that I hope makes up for it:)**_

"I need a favor."

"Right now?"

"No, not right now. Tonight."

"Clint! That's very last minute."

"No it's not. It doesn't start until 8:00 tonight which gives you 10 hours to do your lawyer stuff, get your fanciest suit, and meet me a block away from that really fancy place in Queens."

"Hold on a second. What are you talking about?"

"I'm on a sort-of-Avengers mission. This guy stole some alien tech. It's in his mansion. He's hosting a big gala. I don't really know all of the details on the gala, but I do know it'll be dark inside so we don't need to mask our identities. I need to get in, get the tech, and get out. The problem is, I can't cause a scene while fighting off the guards protecting the tech. On my own I can't take out a few dozen armed people without my bow- I can't take my bow because, well obvious reasons. That's where you come in. The two of us should be able to take out all of the people, grab the tech, and sneak 's a fancy party thing, so wear a nice tux that you can still fight someone in." There was a pause as Matt thought about the scenario.

"Alright, fine. Where are we meeting?"

 **That night**

"So there's a catch," Clint said when Matt showed up.

"What? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Because I was distracted. Anyway, we need to pretend to be together."

"Why?"

"Because I was supposed to come with Kate so the invitation says me plus one."

"Plus one doesn't mean dating."

"It's less suspicious."

"Fine."

"Good. Well not that you really had a choice."

"Let's go."

"Yeah."

As they neared, Matt grabbed Clint's upper arm.

"Try not to look like you hate me," Clint told him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Matt said through gritted teeth and a fake smile.

"A couple over there is staring at us. Laugh like I said something funny." Matt chuckled, and it was fairly convincing. "You seem tense. Have you never been on a mission like this?"

"Once. With Electra."

"Electra?"

"Yeah. She's s long story. I'll tell you later."

They got to the front door of the mansion. Clint gave the guard at the door his invitation. The guard opened the door and they went inside. They were greeted by a well dressed man who showed them to the party room. It was pretty loud, causing Matt to wince because of his super hearing.

"You good?" Clint asked.

"Fine." Clint didn't believe him, but dropped it. He studied the room instead, and he assumed Matt was too.

The dance floor was huge and square; at least 100 x 100 feet. It was very dark throughout the room, as promised. There was a DJ station at the head of the dance floor. The rest of the cavernous room had two full bars and many small tables.

"Where's the tech?" Matt asked.

"Straight to business I see. It's upstairs. We need to slip out unnoticed so I was thinking that we should wait until everyone has a few drinks and gets tipsy."

"You mean we have to keep up the act for, what? An hour?"

"Yeah, it'll be fine. Kate and I will spend hours and once even days blending in and gaining trust so that everything will go off without a hitch. But usually she's the professional one and I'm the idiot."

"You still are the idiot."

Clint turned his back to Matt, grumbling something about a "futzing bad friend." He did realize, though, that Matt appeared very calm and at ease, while he was constantly looking over his shoulder as if he was about to be made.

"You need to relax," Matt whispered him. "Your heart rate has been high this whole time."

"I am relaxed. I'm blending in. Completely natural."

"Why were we worried about me being the awkward one?" Matt wondered aloud.

"Shut up."

"We should have fake names, right?" Matt asked in a voice below a whisper.

"Oh yeah, you're Chris and I'm Mike."

"We should also mingle, maybe get a drink or something. We're the only people here standing around and people are going to get suspicious."

"Okay fine. Come on." Clint offered his arm, which Matt took, and the duo made their way to one of the bars with limited bickering. They took seats on bar stools and ordered drinks. Clint was on the left of Matt and Clint's left was an intoxicated lady. She stirred her cocktail with her finger, bit her lip flirtatiously, and leaned towards Clint.

"Hi, cutie. Here alone?" She twirled her hair around her fingers and batted her eyelashes. Clint was completely taken aback.

"I, um. No, I'm uh..." He stuttered.

"Mike, love, what should we get?" Matt deliberately butted in, putting his hand on Clint's thigh. Clint's cheeks flushed, but laced his own fingers through Matt's, highly relieved to be saved from that awkward situation. He really hates going undercover.

Clint ordered them both a drink and they talked about the most normal and least incriminating parts of their life, like their friends, neighbors, and apartments. Matt enjoyed hearing stories about Kate. She always seemed fun and humorous. Clint didn't always agree. Eventually, Matt asked Clint about the time, hoping that they could finally get the tech and leave. Unfortunately, only 35 minutes had passed. A young couple, about Matt and Clint's ages, stumbled over to them, clearly intoxicated.

"Why aren't you dancing?" the girl asked, slurring her words together. She giggled and leaned up against her husband who nearly fell over.

"Yeah. Party! Party means dance and drink," the husband added. Clint, suddenly shy, looked to Matt to answer.

"I don't really dance," Matt said with a small laugh.

"Everyone dances!" the girl yelled, gesturing broadly to all of the people on the dance floor. She nearly smacked her husband across the face while motioning. He didn't seem to notice.

"Not me," he replied kindly.

"Why not?" the husband interjected.

"Because I'm blind." Matt chuckled a little and the couple seemed to have just noticed this now.

"You can still dance. Everyone has noticed you two being boring over here," the girl told them.

"Well, if everyone's noticed…" Matt, now slightly worried by drawing attention, stood and started pulling at the places in his cane where it came apart to make it shorter. He stashed it in his inside coat pocket. By that time, Clint was already standing. He was sweating and definitely didn't want to dance with Matt. Or anyone. He had only known the guy for a few weeks and now here they were, pretending to be a dancing couple. Clint offered Matt his arm and led him to the dance floor. His heart hammered in his chest. Matt noticed it, of course.

"We could go, right now. Just run and take the alien tech with brute force," Matt whispered.

"I need to complete the mission the way I was told to," Clint whispered back.

"Okay. Do you know how to dance?"

"I danced like twice with Kate undercover but she was leading and I was tripping over my feet. You?"

"I've danced with Electra. She led as well."

"You seem more qualified."

"I'm definitely not qualified."

"I'm less qualified!"

"Okay fine I'll lead." They found the place where they were least likely to be watched and then took a few seconds to figure out where their hands go. They settled with Clint's left arm around Matt's back, Matt's right arm around Clint's shoulders, and held each other's other hand in their own.

"Your hand's really clammy," Matt noticed.

"Shut up and dance." Matt moved smoothly. Clint moved like a baby giraffe on drugs.

"I feel bad for Kate if this is what she had to dance with," Matt joked.

"Yeah well I'm better with her."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm just more at ease. I've known her for forever so she's easy to be around."

"Oh. Time?"

"8:45."

"Can we go now?"

"Sure," Clint agreed.

"Be subtle. Just act like we're going to the bathroom or something."

"I am subtle."

"You're whispering 'be subtle' under your breath which isn't very subtle."

They snuck out of the party and to the bathrooms. Then they scanned the area to make sure no one could see them and turned ran in a different direction to the stairs. Clint pulled out SHIELD issued phone and opened the map of the house.

"First left, third right, immediately left, second door on the left. Quiet now, we want to use the element of surprise," Clint informed Matt. They both took off their suit coats in order to move easilier and carried them. Matt removed a black beanie from one of his pockets and pulled it down over his eyes. Clint didn't bother with a disguise because he looked like every other blonde white guy. They paused at the corner before the final hallway. Clint held up one, two, three fingers and they both jumped out. They aimed their kicks and punches for the head, looking to knock everyone out. They were outnumbered by quite a bit, but the guards were not top of the line. The two plowed through them and the fight was over relatively quickly. Clint kicked down the door to reveal an office.

"The bookcase is a fake door," Matt said. He walked over to it and ran his hands along the books, feeling for the mechanics inside one of them. He found the right one and pulled it out. The bookcase slipped open revealing a piece of alien tech about the size of his fist. They left the room and picked up their coats on the floor outside. Matt handed the tech to Clint who slipped it into his pocket. They returned to the staircase and walked down towards the bathroom. Both were on high alert. Suddenly, Matt stopped and grabbed Clint's arm to stop him too.

"Sh. Someone's coming. We're surrounded but not made. There isn't a way out."

"What?"

"They're getting closer. Waiter, I think, from the party. There's someone behind us, too, but they are just standing still. On their phone, maybe."

"What should we do?" Matt thought for a second before remembering what he and Electra did.

"Kiss me."

"What?"

"Passionately make out with me." Clint hesitated, but then obliged. He was not very skilled when it came to kissing, and Matt could tell how uncomfortable he was. The waiter walked around the corner and was only slightly surprised to see them.

"You should go back to the party room. I think if you don't I have to, like, call the police or something," the waiter said. Matt and Clint pulled apart. They pretended to be surprised and didn't need to pretend to be embarrassed. The stammered out apologies before hurrying away. The got to the bathrooms before saying a word to each other.

"Now what?" Clint asked, not looking at Matt.

"We sneak out of the bathroom window and run like hell." Clint nodded and they entered the bathroom. Clint boosted Matt up to the window at the top of wall and touching the ceiling. Matt opened the window and with a little twisting and turning got out. He then turned and pulled Clint up. His arms came out first and then his head he tried to pull the rest of himself out but his shoulders were too broad.

"Aw, window no," he said.

"Can you really not get out?" Matt asked.

"No, I can't. Grab my hands and try pulling me out." Matt pulled but only managed to get him a few more inches out.

"Can you tuck your shoulder, like, down or something?"

"I'm trying. Give me a second." They waited as he squirmed. "Okay, now pull as hard as you can. Don't stop."

"What? No, You'll get stuck or hurt."

"It's fine, just do it." Matt and Clint gripped each others forearms and then Matt pulled. It took about 40 seconds to get him all of the way out. His suit jacket and shirt were ripped and the skin of his shoulders was raw.

"Are you okay?" Matt asked as Clint rubbed his shoulders.

"Just run." They took off and didn't stop until they got to Clint's car a block away. They got in and drove without talking for a while. Clint was constantly looking over his shoulder. Finally, Matt broke the silence.

"That could have gone better."

"Yeah. I really hate those kinds of missions."

"Me too." Pause. "We're still going to hang out after this, though, right?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't we?"

"I don't know. You seemed kind of traumatized by the entire thing."

"Kate says that too but I still hang out with her. What do you think the worst part was?"

"Dancing with you. Hands down."

"Hey!" They both laughed.

After loosening up a little, they returned to how they usually act and talk. It was nice having a friend that was willing to do crazy stuff with you and didn't change the way they thought about you. Clint was actually glad he had gone taken Matt with him and not Kate. He didn't think he could kiss her. Matt was glad Clint got over acting weird quickly. For a minute, he really was afraid he'd lost a friend, but then felt stupid that he'd really thought Clint would stop talking to him over something they had to do while on a mission. Overall, it wasn't that bad of a night.

 _ **Even though it may seem like it from this chapter, I do not ship Matt and Clint and there won't be any more chapters like this one. If you like what you've read so far, please like! If there is something you didn't like, comment and I will be sure to not do it again. Thanks for reading and I hope to publish another chapter.**_


	8. Talk to Me, You Friggin Idiot

_**So I know that in this timeline Clint is already deaf when he meets Matt but I wanted to write this chapter so I'm going to. Every chapter after this will go with the original timeline. Every event from this fanfic besides Clint being deaf had happened in this chapter. Thanks for being awesome!**_

"Hey, Matt, right?"

"Yeah, who's this?"

"Barney, Clint's brother. He's in trouble. Clint."

"What? No, what happened?" Matt demanded. There was silence on the other end of the line. "Barney, what happened?"

"There was an accident. We went up against.. Some really bad people. We got hurt pretty bad, but he's not recovering well. He won't deal with me and I'm pretty sure you're his only friend. Can you just come to his apartment and try to talk to him or something?"

"Yes. Yes, of course. When do you want me to come over?"

"As soon as possible." Matt heard a click, signifying that Barney had hung up. Matt pocketed his phone and headed out of his office and towards the street to hail a taxi. He was at Clint's in record time. He went straight to his apartment, but was surprised that the door was locked. He knocked but no one answered for a full two minutes so he forced it open, breaking the lock in the process.

"Clint?" No reply. "Hey buddy, where are you?" Still nothing. He used his sonar and found Clint sitting on the edge of his bed in his bedroom. Matt went over to the door and knocked. Still silent, so he let himself in. "Your brother told me you got hurt in a fight. What happened?" Clint didn't even look up. Matt walked up to him and Clint jumped when he saw him. His heart raced for a few seconds. "What's going on?" Clint stood up and pushed past him. Matt grabbed him by the arm and pulled him around. "You have to talk to me." Clint wouldn't so much as look in Matt's general direction. "What's going on?" Clint marched out the apartment door. Matt sighed and pulled out his phone. He called Barney Barton.

"Matthew Murdock. Did it go well?"

"Well, uh, no. Not at all. You said he got hurt but he looks completely fine. Do you mind telling me what happened?"

"I didn't really think it would. You know about his whole thing with the tracksuit mafia, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, there was a final battle sort of thing."

"Okay."

"And at one point, he realized where the ring leader was and that he was probably too late, so we ran to where he was, but he was waiting for us. He stabbed Clint in both ears and bursted both ear drums. He's permanently 80% deaf."

" _What?!_ How am I supposed to get him to listen to me, then?"

"He's been deaf before; when we were little kids he was temporarily deaf so he can read lips and should remember quite a bit of ASL. you just need to get him to look at you."

"Okay. Alright, fine, I'll g talk to him again."

"Thanks. And… if he tells you anything, will you tell me?" Barney asked, his voice filled with non maskable worry.

"Yeah, of course. I wouldn't count on it though." At that, Barney hung up. Matt sighed and collected his thoughts for a second before going to Clint, who was in the kitchen, pacing.

Matt knew Clint saw him but was choosing to ignore him. He walked slowly over to the younger man and rested a hand on his shoulder. Clint stopped pacing and actually looked at Matt.

 _This is way easier than I thought it'd be,_ Matt thought.

Matt heard Clint's heart hammer in his chest, racing. He was sweating, Matt could taste the salt, and also metal. Clint had bit the inside of his cheek. Every breath was like a gasp, a panicked, fast, hard gasp. He was hurting. He was scared. And he was angry. Matt pulled him into a hug, Clint startled, but then collapsed onto Matt, his head on Matt's shoulder, squeezing his tightly.

Matt heard him take a shuddering breath, and another followed by another, each one more ragged than the last. Soon he was sobbing into Matt's shoulder, his face pressed hard against it. Matt didn't know what to do. Clint was also so… guarded. He never seemed very hurt or emotional. Matt was the more sensitive one.

Matt didn't move for a solid minute, when Clint suddenly jumped back and started furiously wiping his eyes. He turned his back on Matt. Matt waited for him to turn back around. He took, but it took longer than he expected. When he did, he was actually the one spoke first.

"Go home Matt."

"You know I won't."

"You have to."

"I'm sorry."

"Matt. Please. Please leave. Just… just get out. I-I need you to go. Just, just do it. Please," he said in a small voice. Matt wasn't sure what he was expecting, but begging wasn't it.

"Clint, why are you so ashamed?" Matt asked.

"You-you wouldn't understand."

"Why not?"

"Because you, you were just a kid when you were blinded and then you got superpowers and-and I, I'm supposed to be a superhero with no superpowers and now…"

"Now you don't think you'll ever be the same person you were." Clint nodded, defeated. "I do understand. After the accident, I was lost. I didn't know who I was anymore. I had to relearn how to live, but then I realized that though my life had changed, I hadn't. I was the same kid I was, and you're the same man you were. You can still fight, Clint. You haven't lost any of your skill. You're still Hawkeye."

"No. No, I'm not still Hawkeye," he growled. "Hawkeye was supposed to be a superhero."

"No, Clint, you're Hawkeye."

"Hawkeye isn't a person, dumbass. It's a mantel. I'm not even the only one."

"Just because Hawkeye isn't you doesn't mean you aren't Hawkeye."

"Shut up, okay?" Clint turned his back again. Matt knew he had no intention to turn back around this time, so he sat down on the couch and made himself at home. Clint paced the kitchen for a while, drank coffee, and eventually made his way into his bedroom. When he fell asleep, Matt was still there. When he woke up the next morning Matt was still there. Clint didn't want to look at him. Matt was right, he was ashamed. He didn't want anyone's help and he didn't want a weakness. He didn't want Matt to see how weak he was. He sat down next to him anyway.

"Did you sleep at all?" Clint asked.

"A bit. Did you?" Clint shook his head.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I don't know. Everything?"

"I don't think you have anything to be sorry about."

"I do. Let's just… not talk about that, though." He gazed off into space, deep in thought. Matt lightly touched his shoulder to get his attention, trying not to startle him.

"Is there anything you do want to talk about?"

"No."

"Okay."

They didn't talk for a long time, they just sat in silence until Clint got up to throw together some breakfast. They didn't talk through breakfast, either. It wasn't awkward or uncomfortable. It was actually kind of nice.

 _ **Sorry to switch up the timeline on you, I hope it wasn't too confusing. As I said before, the next chapters will go back to the previous timeline. I know it's been a really long time since I updated, but there was another chapter that I was writing that I thought I finished and posted but turns out I didn't, so sorry.**_


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